Collapsed Mosque
Just was over at Masjid al Harun, Aaron's Mosque, near Bab Sefir. I did not realize that there was a whole giant area of the medina, only 100 years old or less, all shabi, all ghetto, up on the hill. I've often seen it from the Merenid Tomb s, but not known what I was looking at. It felt very shabi. It didn't look like the ancient medina I'm used to. I got there and found hundreds of people gathered, watching, curious. There were more ambulances and fire engines than I've ever seen in one place in Morocco, a country without wood buildings. I made my way to the corridon of police and soldiers, and asked the first if there was a way to volunteer. He directed me up the street, and I asked a second, saying I wanted to lift stones to help. He directed me on to a third, who said I could cross the street and enter into the area that was collapsed- they weren't letting the hundreds in. By this time I'd gotten the impression that it would be unlikely...
